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Tuesday, 5 June 2012

The Tibetan Talisman by Rob Ingalls

"Shortly after his plane crashes near Chinese spy ships, US Air Force Captain Peter Forrest, a member of an elite team of airmen who fly into the center of typhoons, discovers his destiny. For reasons unknown to him, he has been chosen to return a unique talisman to its rightful owner. At the conclusion of a challenging journey, he is surprised and amazed to learn the identity of its owner.

Twelve thousand years ago, seven gold and silver talismans were created, each inscribed with cryptic symbols. Left in the custody of seven religious guardians throughout the world, each was linked with a different faith. For generations, these guardians have kept the talismans safe, while keeping their vital secret. However, when one of the talismans is stolen, the combined energies of numerous groups struggle to obtain possession. A powerful tool, the talisman could cause international chaos under the control of an evil influence.

Why are the CIA, the United States and Chinese governments, even the Tibetan's exiled government, desperate to gain possession of the talisman? How can Captain Forrest retrieve the talisman and return it to its rightful owner? Discover the commanding power and incredible journey of The Tibetan Talisman." from Amazon.co.uk

From the product description this book sounded like it ticked a lot of boxes for me, action, intrigue, political manoeuvring...and it delivered those elements. The author seems very knowledgeable about a lot of the topics covered. This is a romp through a number of exotic locales as various factions try and influence the destiny of the Tibetan Talisman. Only Peter seems to be ignorant of what it is capable of, although he becomes very aware it has special powers. I particularly liked the descriptions of the work of the tyhoon hunters and enjoyed the dynamics of the team. The crew were the characters I was most able to empathise with, although I also liked the characterisation of the potential Chinese defector.

While the switches of location were well handled I did reach a point where I was struggling to keep track of all the characters, particularly those within the CIA and US Government. Trying to keep who was ignorant about the Talisman and who was in on the secret straight was a bit of an effort. My other criticism would be that I put the book down feeling that I didn't really understand what the Talisman was actually capable of. As there is more to come from Peter Forrest I am sure readers will learn more as he does but I would like to have felt I understood the basics of how or why it worked and what could be done with it. Along with a few typos I couldn't say I really liked this book, although I would be interested to see how the series and the writing develops.